1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to myofunctional therapy biofeedback devices, and more particularly to a biofeedback device adapted to sense the motion sequence of a tongue during swallowing and speech in coherent relationship with the tensioning of selected facial muscles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of myofunctional therapy, efforts generally expended in aligning the bite are often undone by abnormal swallowing and speech habits developed prior to the corrective work. In the past, various techniques have been developed by which the proper alignment of musculature at any one discrete point during the swallowing cycle is measured; however, none of those techniques monitor the whole sequence of significant muscular movements during the swallow. Most prior art devices of this kind do not provide a ready visual display to the patient by which the patient himself could notice, without the aid of other persons in attendance, the immediate propriety of his muscular position. Lacking such readily obtainable indication, any corrective therapy would necessarily require the attendance of other persons, thus raising the expense and the frequency of therapeutic exercises. Furthermore, most prior art devices only measure a singular position of the tongue and therefore provide no information to either the patient or the therapist as to the propriety of the sequence of muscular movements that has occurred. Often the sequence entails small, and therefore visually hard to perceive, concurrent muscular contractions such as contractions of the facial muscles which occur both during a swallow and during speech and which therefore call for extensive visual inspection by a trained person in order to arrive at a proper diagnosis.
Accordingly, there is a present need for an appliance which by virtue of its simplicity could be conveniently bought, leased out by the patient, or used by a therapist during the therapy periods, such appliance having the requisite qualities of simplicity of operation and an easily comprehended display. Since the swallowing sequence often involves muscular contractions which are essentially on the subconscious level, or the motor level, the display therefore would be providing biofeedback. In addition, a device of such kind would necessarily also involve convenient adjustment features by which the therapist could progressively trim up the training program until proper speech or swallow habits are obtained. Further, the same device could be utilized for diagnostic readings by adjusting the various components thereof to known normals.